To Make A Miracle
by Misha
Summary: Anita Brooks hates hockey and has never gotten along with her father, yet somehow she ends up tagging along with the 1980 Olympic hockey team and discovers the experience of a lifetime.
1. Part One: Coming Home

To Make A Miracle  
By Misha

Disclaimer- Not mine, most of the characters own themselves. Only Anita (and later her mother) are the products of my imagination. Everything else belongs to someone else. I'm not making any money off this, so please don't sue me.

Author's Notes- This is another Miracle story and another story about an older daughter of Herb Brooks. I know it's been over-done, and that I've done it twice alreayd, but I couldn't resist. This is a different direction than my other two stories. Anita is a very different character than Elizabeth in "Of Dreams and Miracles" or Alexandra in "Whatever It Takes" and she has a very different relationship with her father. Both those girls are close to Herb and everything goes from there, the main tension in this story is going to be the rocky relationship between father and daughter. I think you'll find this story is very differnet than the other two, even though it has a similar premise. Also, Anita won't be paired with either O.C or Mac, I promsie, I've already done that twice. No, her love interest will be someone new, that's what makes it fun, right? Anyway, I hope you guys like this story and give it a chance. Well, that's all, enjoy!

Summery- Anita Brooks hates hockey and has never gotten along with her father, yet somehow she ends up tagging along with the 1980 Olympic hockey team and discovers the experience of a lifetime.

Rating- PG-13

* * *

Part One- Coming Home

_June 1979_

Anita Brooks opened the door of her father's house and then froze. The house was full of people in costume, obviously she was interrupting something. A party, it looked like.

_Maybe I should have called first._ She thought. Just then Patti Brooks came into view. Her face lit up in a smile. "Nita, when did you get in?"

"Just now, Patti." Anita said with a smile, giving her stepmother a quick kiss on the cheek. "I guess I should have called." 

"Never." Patti assured her. "You know you're welcome here anytime, this is your home after all."

Anita smiled ruefully at that. This had never been her home. Oh, Patti had always been wonderful to her and Anita had always been made to feel welcome in their home, but she had never lived there. She had visited often, spending weekends and most holidays there, but she had always made her home elsewhere.

"Thanks, Patti." She smiled. "Is Dad around somewhere?"

"He and Danny are avoiding the party." Patti told her with a smile. "So you know what that means."

Anita grinned. "Yeah, so I'm gonna go..."

"Of course." Patti said with a smile. "We'll catch up later."

Anita made her way through the throng upstairs to Danny's room, where she knew her father and younger brother would be hiding out.

"Hey stranger."

Herb looked up from where he and Danny were playing table hockey. "Nita." He said, blinking. "When did you get into town?"

"Five minutes ago." Anita told him as Danny ran to her for a hug.

"Nita! You're back!"

"For a while, at least." Anita said with a smile.

"How long is a while?" Herb asked her.

"I don't know." Anita answered.

Herb accepted her answer with a nod.

Before either of them could say anything else, Patti appeared. "Sorry to interrupt, but Herb you've got a phone call from Colorado."

Anita saw her father freeze and then nod, he walked briskly from the room. "Colorado?" Anita asked Patti.

"The Olympic Committee." Patti told her. "He was going out for the Coaching job."

"Wow." Anita said, shaking her head. "I really am out of the loop. The Olympics. That's huge." 

"It is." Patti agreed. "It means a lot to him, Nita."

"I know." Anita told her. "Patti, I might not be around a lot, but I do know a few things about my dad."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Anita regretted them. "Patti, I'm sorry. It's just being home and..." 

"I understand." Patti told her.

Anita nodded. "Thanks."

She sighed. It was typical, she had been back ten minutes and already she felt awkward. Maybe coming back to Minnesota hadn't been that good an idea after all.

Just then Herb came back.

"What did they say?" Patti asked him.

"They me I got the job." Herb told her. 

"Herb, that's fantastic!" Patti exclaimed, throwing her arms around.

"Yeah, Dad, that's great." Anita told him.

Herb shot her a look. "How would you like a job?"

"What?" Anita asked in disbelief. 

"I'll need someone to do paperwork, organise schedules and various other things." Herb told her. "Since, as far as I know, you're unemployed, as usual, and you do have the skills, I thought it might work."

Anita pondered his words and saw three problems.

First, it would mean committing to be in the same place for several months and she wasn't that good at staying in the same place for any length of time. Which might account for her having gone to two different colleges without having graduated and having had numerous jobs in the last four years.

Second, she wasn't a hockey fan.

Last and most importantly, it would mean seven months in her father's company and if Anita had learnt anything it was that she and her father worked best in small doses.

Yet... She _didn't_ have a job and how often did opportunities like this come along? It would be an adventure and that was something Anita thrived on. Also, her father was actually offering her a job, making some sort of gesture, which had to be a positive sign. 

"Sure." Anita said, before she could stop herself. 

"That'd be great, Thanks Dad." Herb nodded curtly. "Good. Now, I've got to go call Craig Patrick." With that he walked away.

Patti smiled at her. "I guess that means you'll be around for a while."

Anita sighed. "Yeah, I guess it does."

What had she gotten herself into? She had a feeling that she was going to regret this, but the decision had been made and she wasn't going to back out.

No, she was doing this, whatever that meant. She just hoped she survived the next seven months.

* * *


	2. Part Two: Second Guessing

To Make A Miracle  
By Misha

_Disclaimer and Notes in Part One.  
_  
Part Two- Second Guessing

A couple of days later, as preparations were getting under way for tryouts, Herb handed Anita a thick bundle of paper.

"What's this?" She asked as she took it.

"It's a test." Herb told her. "I'm making all the boys take one and I want you to take it as well." 

"You want me to take a _test_?" Anita asked in disbelief. "No way."

"You're taking it, Anita, or you're not working for me." Herb informed her.

"You're the one that offered me the job." Anita reminded him. "And now you're making me take a test to decide if I'm good enough for it?"

"Not if you're good enough." Herb corrected. "The test is to see if you have what it takes to last seven months. If you have what I'm going to need from you." 

"I'm your daughter!" Anita exclaimed angrily. 

"You also have a bad track record." Herb stated bluntly. "I know you, Anita, you have a tendency to take off when the going gets tough and I can't have that happening. So, I need to make sure you have it in you to stick around."

Anita was stung by his words, but she couldn't really deny them. The only way to disprove of them would be to show him that he was wrong. 

"Fine!" She said angrily. "I'll take your stupid test and I'll show you I have what you need. I told you I'd take the job and I will, I'll stick it out these next seven months, you just wait and see!"

Herb nodded curtly. "Good. I want that back by tomorrow morning." WIth that, he turned and walked away from her.

Anita glared at his retreating form. _I must be insane._ She thought, wondering why she had agreed to this. She and her father would **not** be able to get along for that long.

But, she wasn't going to back out. No way. Not when it was exactly what her father expected from her.

* * *

"You do know that you're married to a dictator, right?" Anita asked her stepmother later that night.

Patti smiled at her. "I'm aware of Herb's quirks."

"He made me take a _test_." Anita told her.

"That's a little extreme, I'll agree." Patti told her. "But I'm sure he had his reasons."

"He said it was to see if I had what it takes." Anita complained. "Patti, I'm his _daughter_, shouldn't he know me by now?" 

Patti was quiet for a moment. "Anita, your father believes in you, otherwise he wouldn't have offered the job, but he's also going to push you."

Anita sighed. "I just wonder if I made a huge mistaking, taking this job."

"I can't tell you if it is or not." Patti told her. "But I can tell you, that I'm glad you're going to be around these next few months, and I think your father is to, even if he would never say it."

Anita just shook her head. "I just never seem to know the right thing to say to him--it's always been like that." 

She always found it easy to talk to Patti. She didn't consider her her mother, for better or worse she'd had one of those, but they'd always gotten along well. Almost like friends.

Patti paused and then looked at her. "Do you ever wonder if your father feels the same way? You two, you're so alike, neither of you ever likes to back down or admit that you're wrong, so you've had a hard time bridging the gap."

Patti reached out and patted Anita's hand. "'Nita, maybe this is the opportunity the two of you need to bridge that gap and start to understand each other."

Anita smiled. "Or maybe we'll kill each other. Anything's possible, I'm sure."

* * *


	3. Part Three: Tryouts

To Make A Miracle  
By Misha

_Disclaimer and Notes in Part One.  
_  
Part Three- Tryouts

_Early July 1979_

Anita sat in the box looking over the arena, next to her father. He was making her watch tryouts with him. She was supposed to be taking notes, but she was trying not to die of boredom. Hockey was really not her thing. 

"Am I boring you here?" Herb asked sharply.

"No, I'm just a little tired." Anita said, knowing that it was best not to let her father realize that she was indeed bored out of her mind.

"Well, snap out of it, I need those notes." Herb informed her.

"Why?" Anita asked. "You already have your roster." She pointed to the piece of paper her father had been working on for the last few hours.

"Because I still need to know everything there is to know about these boys." Herb told her, not denying her comment. "Including all observations I may make right now."

"Fine." Anita said with a sigh. "I'll try to be more alert."

"See that boy?" Herb motioned. "That's Mark Johnson. He's a great skater, fast and fluid. Probably the best out there." 

"He's good." Anita said, writing down what her father had just said. She inwardly hated the idea of seven months of this. Yet, she couldn't back out now.

Just then, her father's assistant coach, Craig Patrick entered the box. "So, Doc cleared him, said it's just a sprain." Craig said, referring to a player who had been injured earlier in the day.

Herb nodded, his eyes on the piece of paper in his hands. "Nita, why don't you go see if Doc needs some help?" He asked, not bothering to lift his eyes.

Anita nodded and excused herself, eager for the excuse to leave the box. She made her way down to where Doc was.

"Anita." He greeted with a smile.

"Dad sent me to see if you needed anything." She told him.

"How is it going between you and Herb?" Doc asked shrewdly. He'd known for Herb for many years, so he well aware of the tension between father and daughter.

"As well as can be expected." Anita told him. "Do you think I was wrong to take this job?"

"No." Doc told her quietly. "In fact, I think this was the best decision you've made in a long time. This is what you need, both you and Herb."

Anita smiled ruefully. "I hope you're right."

* * *

Anita sat in the stands a few hours later as Craig read out the roster.

None of the names were familiar to her, but that wasn't a big surprise. She tended to ignore everything to do with the sport of hockey. Another reason that she couldn't believe that she had signed on for this job.

"Eurizione! And that's the roster for now. The rest of you thanks for coming out."

Anita watched as boys started filing out, looking crushed, and the ones that remained started to congratulate each other. She looked them over, thinking about the fact that these would be who she was spending the majority of the next seven months with. Joy.

After a minute, Anita spotted her father.

"Take a good look around boys." Herb stated, as he came down the stairs towards Craig. "'Cause they're the ones getting off easy. We're putting a few of you on reserve, in case someone gets injured or their game goes to hell. The final roster will have twenty names on it, so more of you are going home."

Anita saw the enthusiasm wane a bit as the realisation washed over the crowd. Leave it to her father to zap all the happiness out of a room.

"Give ninety-nine percent you'll make my job very, very easy. I'll be your coach; I won't be your friend." Herb warned. "Over there's my daughter, Anita, if she chooses, she might be your friend. Otherwise, if you need one of those you can talk to Doc or Coach Patrick." With that Herb turned and departed again.

Anita heard the whispers of "Herb's daughter?" and could feel a lot of eyes on her. _Gee thanks Dad_. She thought, but she knew that it had to come out sooner or later. After all, for better or worse, she **was** Herb's daughter.

"Congratulations," Craig told the crowd. "Before you go pick up one of these. You've got a little homework to do... Before you celebrate."

"Homework?" She heard one of the boys mutter in disgust.

"It's a test." Anita said, turning to look at him. She rolled her eyes. "It's to see if you have what it takes to last seven months." 

The guy, who was very cute, but not Anita's type, groaned. "Herb's gotten even crazier than he already was."

Anita laughed. "Well, I always think, he's crazy, so..."

The guy smiled. "You're his daughter, right?"

"Yes." Anita confirmed. "I'm Nita."

"Rob McClannahan." The guy introduced, then frowned. "How come I've never seen you around before? I played for your dad at the U." 

"I never went to the U." Anita told him. "And I don't see a lot of my father, so..."

Rob nodded and let the subject drop. "A bunch of us are going out to celebrate." He told her, getting up. "Why don't you come with us?"

Anita thought about it. She wasn't crazy about jocks, but she had to put up with these guys for another eight months regardless and she might as well make an effort to get to know them. She grinned. "Sounds great? What time?"

* * *


End file.
